You open up your e-commerce site or Google Business Profile to find a terrible one-star review. Cue the panic, rage, and distress!

While you might be feeling a lot of frustration, it’s important to respond in a way that represents your business. We’ve got some tips to help you out when you inevitably get those less-than-glowing reviews.

1. Remember: Negative Reviews are Normal

Your business and the way you run it might not be for everyone. The world is full of people with different personalities and preferences. Your service or product might be for most people, but it’s certainly not for everyone. Even widely loved business superfans nitpick at the product. Think about Apple iPhone reviewers who pick apart the latest updates, but never miss an upgrade. Or there are those people who simply have different needs. Think about diehard Android users who will never convert to an iPhone on the principle of not supporting Apple.

Negative reviews are also a sign that you’re an authentic business. A number of businesses pay companies to leave them a collection of five-star reviews. This is a cheap tactic that arouses suspicion when potential new customers are looking up a business. It’s reassuring to see people with varied opinions about a business!

2. Take a Step Back

If your emotions are running high from reading a negative review, the first step is to give yourself a little distance from it. It’s not always possible or advisable to leave your laptop and the negative review alone for a long time, but even a few minutes can give you some perspective, while helping bring you back into a headspace where you can respond in a rational, logical way.

Try getting up and walking into the other room to pour yourself a glass of water. Take five deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling fully through your mouth. Observe the way the ground feels beneath your feet or seat, or the feel of your breath on your skin. Go outside and turn your face toward the sun, take a short walk, or listen to the sounds of people and nature. These kinds of grounding techniques can bring you back into the present moment and calm your nervous system so you can feel calmer while you respond.

3. Analyze the Situation

Negative reviews can show up in all kinds of places online: social media, third-party apps and platforms, and on your own website or product pages. This affects the kind of control you have over the review posting, how you can respond, and what kind of follow up is most appropriate. The general rule of thumb is not to delete negative reviews, as long as they aren’t in violation of terms of service or obscene.

Chances are you’ve left a less-than-positive review yourself for a store or travel experience. Negative reviews might be unfortunate, but true—like a customer who ended up with a bad experience. It might even be a customer, or someone you’ve already talked to in person, on the phone, or over email to resolve their issue. These are the kinds of reviews that require the business to own up to the mistake made.

On the other hand, the negative reviews might be based on the whims and fancies of the person who’s posting, such as someone outside your usual client base who tried your product or service. Think of someone who hates scary stories reviewing a Stephen King book.  It won’t matter that King is a renowned author and a master of horror storytelling; that person is going to have a negative experience reading “The Shining” no matter what These reviews, although negative, don’t necessarily require a response and can help other potential customers who aren’t a fit for your business find a better option for their preferences.

4. Own up to Your Mistakes

If your business is in the wrong, it’s important to take responsibility for the mistake. And not only that; review readers in the future will want to know what you’ve done to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Whether you’ve updated a policy, changed a supplier, or fired a problematic employee, these are the kinds of things other customers want to know about. Without communicating that the problem was fixed, a potential customer five years down the line could believe your business still tolerates employees who insult customers.

After you respond to one negative review, save your response in your email or a Word/Google doc file. Having a template or example of a response that worked well can make it easier to respond to other negative reviews in the future.

Be sure that you don’t place blame on the reviewer. Owning up to mistakes can’t be half-hearted or inauthentic. Take full responsibility for what was your fault; readers will be able to tell if the reviewer was being unreasonable beyond that. 

Note: If there are possible legal ramifications for your business’s mistake, be sure to consult your attorney before responding. 

5. Don’t Feed the Trolls

Trolls may have been fun in “Frozen,” but in real life, there are internet users who post things that are just plain mean, obscene, or inappropriate. These people are the ones we call the trolls. Often, they’re posting something negative just for the attention; it’s often not something they would say face-to-face with another human being. 

It’s sometimes hard to tell whether someone is asking a question, or commenting in a sarcastic way or an honest way. If there’s an opportunity to educate or inform the possible troll, try a short, factual response. If they respond with snark, tap out. Continuing to respond only adds fire to the flame—you’d just be feeding the trolls. 

Deleting reviews or comments is generally inadvisable. You can end up being called out for curating only the good, and you can incense trolls or even loyal customers who felt their review was justified. However, DO delete or report reviews that are threatening, obscene, or discriminatory, and let the reviewer know that kind of language isn’t acceptable or tolerated. But be mindful that deleting a troll’s mean-spirited comment can be another way of feeding the trolls.

You might have superfans who help take care of the trolls for you, such as correcting them when they say something factually incorrect. Take care of these loyal superfans who have your back!

Take a Breather, Then Let Good Sense Guide You

It can feel overwhelming when you’re faced with a negative review that could affect your reputation. Give yourself some space so you can respond fairly and rationally to the comment. Consider what’s best for the business and for future potential customers who will read both the review and your response. Put the review in perspective, and remember that all good businesses have a bad review sometimes. You have the tools you need to take care of any issues and respond fairly to negative reviews!

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